Brain Research and Curriculum

Another part of that first presentation had implications more for curriculum than facilities.  As the brain develops, it builds connections wildly and randomly until about the age of six, at which point it begins to prune what isn't used. ("Use it or lose it.") This has significant implications for initiatives to implement foreign language instruction at the primary level - something our students have told us that they strongly support.

As I mentioned yesterday, learning begins as sensory input.  It then cycles through the different physical areas of the brain responsible for reflection (what does this mean? what is it similar to?); abstraction (new ideas, hypothesis development); and finally, action, where the new learning is tested - another application of "use it or lose it". This is the part of the brain that establishes learning as permanent, and is the aspect of learning that is often short-circuited by standardized testing. 

This profoundly demonstrates the importance of integrating into the curriculum opportunities for students to physically demonstrate what they have learned, either through presentation, performance - integrating the arts? - or teaching what they have learned to others